Die Or Deliver
by The Pen Samurai
Summary: This is a Fan fiction based on the song "Bad End Night" It has 3 parts The first is a little lenghty though Rated T for violence in part 3
1. Blessing In Disguise Part One

Part 1

Blessing In Disguise

Miku awoke late that morning.

She rolled over on the blanket she had set down on the ground of the run-down shack.

A large handful of girls slept here, as most did not have a home of their own.

The village which Miku lived in was poor, very poor. There was hardly ever enough food to go around, clean water was hard to come by, and most of the villagers lived in groups, sleeping in old tattered shacks.

Miku sat up, allowing a soft yawn to escape. Her long turquoise hair was sprawled out around her. She ran her fingers through her long locks; it was the best she could do to get knots out. It would be more appropriate to cut it short, but, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She lifted the side of the blanket, retrieving two hair clips underneath.

The way they stood upright made them resemble cat ears.

She quickly did her hair up in two pigtails, then got up and winded through the other blankets set out on the ground until she reached the door.

She had been the last of the girls to awake and leave the shack.

Today was the day that a wealthy man would be visiting; he was visiting from another village which was much more prosperous.

He visited every few months, and each time, the villagers would gather in the square to greet him, hoping that he will donate some of his many earnings. But, he never did. Still, the villagers remained hopeful. Many crafted gifts for the man, but, it never seem to change his mind. Some even gave their whole month's supply of food in hope that he donates some back, which of course, never happened.

Miku had never really paid much attention to him, in her eyes, he was selfish and greedy, coming to take the small amount of food that the villagers had. She still had to show up in the tiny village square to greet him as a sign of respect though.

By the time she arrived, every person in the village (which wasn't many) was already crammed into the town square, as the wealthy man arrived in his horse drawn carriage.

Some of the villagers sat up on roofs, trying to get a good glimpse of the fellow.

Miku scrambled up a frail wooden railing, stretched out in front of one of the larger village shacks.

As the man got out of his carriage, many hopeful villagers rushed forward with gifts of food and crafted objects. He would take them and pass them back to his servants, whom tossed them into the carriage carelessly.

Miku allowed a shrill hiss to escape her clenched jaw, which was completely drowned out by the buzzing noises of the now busy town's square.

To say she despised the man would be an understatement.

He winded through the villagers, greeting them and taking their gifts.

Miku looked out at the woods surrounding the village. She liked to go out during the mornings, which she would as soon as the wretched man left.

She whistled a three note tune, which the villagers would not have heard, but the birds did.

Miku listened hard as the birds became silent, and then sung the tune back to her.

She smiled warmly; the birds were the closest she had to friends or family.

The wealthy man suddenly hushed the villagers, they obediently fell quiet.

He stood up on the side of the carriage and began to speak.

"I have an errand, it is very important; I need somebody to do deliver something for me. Any volunteers?" He asked.

Of course, pretty well every hand in the village shot up in the air, villagers jumped over each other to make sure the man could see them.

Miku hissed again, now he was getting the poor people to do his dirty work.

As the bustling noises began again, Miku looked back out to the woods, singing her tune to the birds, who replied every time.

She was only vaguely aware that the wealthy man was walking passed all the villagers, making his way around the square, searching for a somebody to deliver his errand.

She paid no mind as he walked by her, and was unaware that he had paused a few feet away.

"You. Girl" He called.

Miku's attention snapped to him, her head spun around, her gaze met his.

"Yes Sir? She asked in the sweetest voice she could fake.

"I would like you to deliver my errand" He said.

"Me?" She chocked.

Suddenly, a small uproar began between villagers, clearly unhappy that she had been chosen.

A girl whom Miku lived with leapt forward, "But Sir! She loathes you!" She squealed.

Miku laughed quietly to herself to this, and continued to stare blankly at the man.

"Perfect" The man replied, flashing a sleazy smile.

She arched a single eyebrow.

"Come girl" He said, beaconing her forward.

Miku obediently leapt from the wooden railing, trotting forward to him. "I have a name , Sir" She said feebly.

"Never mind" The man replied, then lead her through the crowd to his carriage.

Miku clenched her jaw tighter; she was determined to dig herself into a deep whole with this man now, she didn't care if he cut her food supply, or personally killed her, she didn't exactly have much to live for.

The man opened the carriage door, revealing a large compartment inside.

He gestured for Miku to step in first, "Ladies first"

Miku simply scowled, not at all impressed by his attempt at charming her, "I insist" she replied.

The man simply laughed and got into the carriage and sat on the left. Miku followed and sat opposite him on the right.

The servant outside shut the door, and pushed the villagers back a few metres.

"So? What is it I am delivering?" She asked.

"I have a letter I would like you to take to a friend who lives in a mansion within the woods" He explained.

"And why would I do that?"

"If you succeed, I will donate all the money required to get this village on its feet" He replied in a stern tone.

This caused Miku to listen more carefully; at first she was disappointed in herself that she believed the man. But… Just that small amount of hope that she could help the village over ruled. Perhaps if she did something important for him, he would do something for her.

"The money is here, and I will not be leaving the village until you return" He went on.

"Hm… A letter huh?" Miku questioned.

"So I am getting through to you" He commented, flashing is sleazy smile again.

"Maybe. But don't get your hopes up" Miku grunted, she was doing whatever she could to swing the power of the bargain into her hands.

The man reached into his pocket, retrieving a faded letter which was folded over.

"Now. Listen carefully" He said hastily.

"Yes?" Miku said cautiously.

The man began to explain, "Nobody else must know you are delivering this letter, including the other inhabitants of the mansion this must go to" "Within the mansion, there is also the Master, Mistress, a butler, a maid, a doll girl and boy and another lady. They must not know that this is being delivered, understood?"

Miku nodded, this was no ordinary letter by the sound of it. "Who am I delivering it to?" She asked.

"I can't tell you" He replied.

Miku stared back blankly, "I can't exactly deliver it if I don't know who it is going to" She replied.

"You can, and you will if you want your village to prosper"

"Ah…Okay…"

He handed her the letter, "You are forbidden to read this letter, is that understood?" He growled firmly.

Miku gulped slightly, nodding quickly, "Yes Sir"

She took the letter and put it into the pocket of her cloak.

"I suggest you act as a lost girl in the woods when you reach the mansion, the others cannot know you are delivering this letter" He hastily added.

"If that is what is needed" She responded.

He opened the door, "Now, I suggest you hurry before it gets dark".

Miku stepped out of the carriage, "I won't disappoint you" She said. Immediately feeling mad at herself because she was acting as if she were another one of his puppets. But she couldn't help it; if he was offering to help her village, well then she couldn't turn down that opportunity.

"Good luck, girl" He added, his tone was as sleazy as his smile.

She kept her head down, and pushed through the crowd to the woods. A few of the villagers even tried to tackle her, but she was swift enough to dodge their attempts.

Miku felt at ease when she finally reached the woods, she actually felt safer within the woods then she did in the village, even if wild dogs did reside within the trees.

The Mansion that the wealthy fellow had mentioned, Miku had seen it, and many rumours had arisen about it. All were fairy tales of course, many villagers had gone missing within the woods; many seemed to blame it on the mansion inhabitants, saying that anybody who went in would never come out. Miku blamed the disappearances on carnivorous animals, it seemed more likely.

She kept a curt pace, hoping to reach the mansion before nightfall; it was located quite deep within the woods. Miku sung to the birds while she walked, it helped to comfort herself.

The bright glow of the mansion became visible to Miku by roughly midnight, she was feeling rather exhausted, especially considering that she never really had much energy to start with, she only ate once a day if she was lucky.

She trudged up the steps, and knocked on the mansion door,

After waiting for a few agonising moments, it was finally answered.

A man with long hair of a violently bright purple shade answered, he wore a black and white uniform, perhaps this was the butler that the wealthy man had mentioned.

"Greetings" He said in his profound voice.

"Hello, Sir. My name is Miku, I was lost in the woods when I found this mansion" She explained in a distressed voice, which she impressed herself by being able to pull it off.

"Oh dear, come in dear" He replied, immediately beaconing her into the warm mansion, closing the door after her.

He lead her down the hallway, past many mysterious doors, too many to have all been bedrooms.

Miku got a glimpse of a large clock on her way by; it indicated that the time was about five minutes to midnight.

The butler opened a door at the end of the hallway, she walked in without hesitation.

Inside, a blue haired man sat in a large chair, almost like some kind of throne.

"Master, we have a visitor" The butler said slowly.

The blue haired man looked up, and smiled upon seeing Miku.

"What a lovely surprise! Lost were you? Well fear not, you may stay here as long as you want!" He said cheerily.

Miku smiled back, he was rather welcoming.

"This is the mansion Master" The butler introduced. "Shall I gather the others?"

"Yes, indeed!" The Master replied.

The butler turned on his heel and swiftly left the room.

"Take a seat dear" The Master offered.

Miku settled down in a seat a few chairs away from the Master.

"So, Miku is it?" He asked.

Miku was very surprised that he already knew her name; he must have heard it from the hallway. "Yes, Sir" she replied.

"What is a young girl such as yourself doing out in the woods?"

"I was, ah, looking for food… And I got lost, so, I ended up here" She explained briefly.

"I must say, you look quite worn, how long have you been out there?"

"Oh not long, the village I came from is very poor"

"Oh. How very unfortunate! Don't worry, we'll get you all fed up and groomed soon enough" He comforted enthusiastically.

Miku smiled, and about then the butler re-entered the room, followed by a small group of others.

The Master slowly introduced the others as they entered.

"This is our maid", a girl with short green hair, she also wore a black and white uniform similar to the butler.

"The Mistress", a woman with short red hair, she entered and sat by the Master.

"The Dolls", two young yellow haired kids entered, a girl and a boy, they seemed younger than Miku. She wondered why he had called them "dolls", she had to admit, they did have that look about them, but it was still a little odd. Perhaps it was a slang term?

"And the lady", a woman with long hair of a pink shade. Miku thought to ask for a name, but, if she hadn't been given one, she figured there was some reason for it, a strange one at that.

Miku waited for another to walk in, the person she was to deliver the letter to. She could sneak it under the table to them.

But… Nobody else entered.

Where was the mystery receiver?

They all gathered around the table, looking at Miku with large smiles on their faces.

"This young girl has wondered by our Mansion, her name is Miku" Master said.

Each of the inhabitants gave a small greeting.

"We should celebrate, Master" The maid spoke.

"Indeed, may we throw a party?" The doll boy asked in excitement.

"Yes! A splendid idea" The Master approved.

"We shall get working in the kitchen then" The butler said as he left the room with the maid.

It seemed sort of odd to Miku, to throw a party when one gets a visitor, she would not argue though, for she was famished.

She sat politely at the table, conversing with the others, as the butler and maid had soon begun to serve dishes.

"Oh dear, you have nothing to wear" The Master said, and then turned his attention to the lady, "Would you please take Miku to the wardrobe to get changed?"

She nodded and beaconed Miku forward; she rose from her seat, and followed the lady past all of the doors again.

The lady walked into one about three quarters of the way up the hallway.

Miku followed, and watched in awe as she entered a walk in wardrobe.

"Have you a preferred colour?" The lady asked.

"No, miss" Miku replied, she did, but was grateful to wear whatever would be provided.

The lady returned with a flowing turquoise coloured dress, "I figured it would bring out your eyes, and you're…" She trailed off, her eyes on Miku's long hair, "Hair… Well we shall get you groomed up in no time" She added positively.

After what seemed like an hour of the lady yanking at Miku's long tangled hair, and wrestling her into a bathtub, then putting the dress on, they finally returned to the table.

Miku thought to ask why the lady was taking so much care to her appearance, as she would not be staying long. In her mind, she would find the mystery receiver, deliver the letter, and then rack off. As far as she knew; in their minds, she would leave as soon as she felt comfortable to sought her way back home.

So, why throw a celebration for someone who would be gone in the blink of an eye?

And take so much time to tend to her?

It all seemed very sinister, but Miku didn't really bother with complaining, she felt like royalty.

Miku really did try hard to hold back and make an effort with her manners, but… it was all too much.

Stacks and stacks of dishes containing food which was foreign to her, she couldn't help herself.

She totally gouged out on anything she could get her hands on, and she felt terrible about it.

Miku's stomach wasn't use to holding this much food, and so much flavour, it proved too rich for her to handle. She was forced to stop eating before she could taste every dish in fear of possibly throwing it all up again.

After sitting at the table with the others as they ate, engaging in conversation every now and then, Miku's stomach was quickly adapting and she didn't feel quite so bloated.

The butler left the room for a moment, and came back with a large glass of dark coloured fluid.

It was a deep red colour, but not the colour of blood; it was darker, almost purple.

He handed it to her, and the Master at the head of the table nodded approvingly.

"Ever tasted wine?" He asked.

_Wine_… the name vaguely rang a bell, but she could only recall it as something only rich people had.

"No" She answered simply, looking at him blankly.

"Well then, there is a first time for everything isn't there?" He commented with a wide smile.

"Smell it first, appreciate the taste" The lady suggested.

Miku did as the lady had suggested, and was thrown back at the incredibly strong smell at first, she had never known a liquid to have such a strong smell, except of course blood… but this smell was far different.

It intoxicated her airways at first; she sat back and stared at the glass in her hand for a moment.

"Go on" The Mistress encouraged.

Suddenly, Miku was afraid of disappointing anyone, if they had given this to her, then she would drink it. She could never waste anything, a trait that everybody in her village adopted at a young age.

She lifted the glass to her lips; the liquid rushed onto her tongue, and tingled her taste buds.

At first, she was not sure if she liked this foreign taste or not.

It was dry, very dry, and had a bitter after taste as she swallowed it. But… She had a strong impulse to take another sip. Although the liquid had been cold in the glass, it felt warm inside her.

"You like?" The doll girl asked from where she stood beside the door.

"Yes… I think so…" Miku replied uncertainly, studying the liquid called wine.

"Drink more, you will enjoy it more" The lady assured.

Miku did, and over the course of the night, she gradually drained the glass.

Her brain seemed to become slightly fogged, it wasn't anything too worrying, but, she felt as if she was reacting a little slower than usual. The others apparently didn't notice, maybe she was just imagining it?

The butler served another glass, and she politely drank it, but hoped he would not bring another, so tried not to show she was enjoying it too much, but enough to satisfy them.

However, as the lady had said, she enjoyed it the more she drank of it, it was almost addicting.

After the second glass, Miku knew that she was not imagining her slow reactions and fogged brain, she concluded it to be a side effect of the liquid, but, surely it wasn't poison?

No, if it were poison, she would be dead.

She began to notice random movements in inanimate objects occasionally, this worried her.

Again, the others apparently didn't notice her slight change in behaviour. But, she was luckily not served another glass after nearly falling over a chair which she was sure had moved a few inches left to clear her path.

After sitting at the table for at least two hours, Miku was taken to a room at the other end of the house to rest. On her way past, she got a glimpse of the clock, which said it was five minutes till midnight.

But, that had been the time she had arrived.

Miku didn't really ponder too much over this; at that point, she didn't trust anything her fogged brain claimed to be seeing.

Miku woke up with a head ache, in what seemed to be the middle of the night.

Her head was spinning, she tried rubbing her eyes, but, to no avail.

She forced herself to sleep, which was less restless.

She awoke again what seemed like hours later, but it was still in the night.

Her head ache had vanished, and any drowsiness she had had before was gone, she felt as awake as ever. But… it looked to be very late in the night judging by the darkness outside her window.

She lay back down, and tossed and turned for quite a while, but she had no hope of falling to sleep again.

Miku stared blankly at the ceiling for some time, pondering on what to do.

She remembered the brain-fogging liquid from earlier; perhaps it had summoned her prior head ache.

She had to deliver the letter and get out of there, the sooner the better; she didn't want any more of that wine, even though her tastebuds craved it.

She had to find the other person who hadn't showed up at dinner. It had been very late; perhaps they had already gone to bed.

She would find them, and then leave the letter under their pillow. Yes… It seemed like a good plan.

Miku convinced herself to get out of bed, she quickly realised that she still had the dress on from the so-called celebration. Without hesitation, Miku immediately changed out of this and into her normal clothes and cloak which had been left on the end of her bed.

The door creaked as she opened it besides her best efforts, and she snuck out into the hallway.

She looked down the hallway at all the doors, where to start?

Miku crept down the hallway, listening to noise behind each door.

She nearly jumped to the roof when a hand was placed on her shoulder.

She spun around, looking down at the doll girl and boy, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go snooping, I was just… Curious and sort of disorientated" She said quickly, just randomly stringing a sentence together.

The two dolls simply smiled and exchanged a giggle with each other, "We know a secret" The boy sniggered.

"Would you like us to tell you the secret?" The girl giggled impishly.

Secret! The first thing Miku thought of was the mystery receiver; the dolls must have known where they were. She began to feel slightly excited at the thought of getting out of there so quickly and without even risking walking into the wrong room.

"Yes please" She replied steadily, giving a small nod.

The dolls walked off further down the hallway, Miku hastily followed.

They stopped about halfway to the end, before the clock.

"Take a look" The girl said with a small laugh, and gestured towards the clock.

Miku did, and it indicated that the time was… five minutes till midnight.

This was the time she had arrived, the time she had seen on her way to bed, it had not changed at all.

At first, Miku giggled along with the two, they must have broken the clock and the others didn't know.

"You impish pair, you better try and fix it" She suggested light-heartedly.

The boy looked at her more seriously, "Oh no, it's not broken miss, look"

Miku took a glance at the clock, and realised that it _was_ still ticking. She immediately stopped laughing and watched the clock for a moment.

When the time came for the thin hand to click over, it jumped forward, and then quickly jumped backwards, back to its original time.

_This was no ordinary clock, it wasn't just broken._

Miku began to panic, was this some kind of cruel prank of theirs?

If it was, it definitely had her unhinged.

She panicked and the room began to spin, but, she was sure this was not the wine's doing.

Miku ran in what she thought was the direction of her room, she felt herself crash into something hard, a wall… or door.

Her hands desperately fumbled for the handle, and when she found it, she hastily twisted it and stumbled into her room.

But, instead of the bed she expected to see….

Before her was… not a bed but…

Two rows of coffins.


	2. Beginning To An End Part Two

Part 2

_Beginning To An End_

"Jesus!" Miku squealed, and immediately clapped her hand over her mouth afterwards.

Of course, as any sane person would, she did not believe her eyes at first.

Perhaps the wine still lingered in her system.

She stared blankly into the room at the coffins, each with an individual name printed on the top, though Miku didn't take notice of exactly whom they belonged to.

So… The myths… The stories… Had all been true?

It _was_ the mansion that was the cause of all the missing people, and here they all were, before her. When they said, no_body_ ever came out, they weren't kidding.

Now what? Run back to the village and tell them what was there?

Well, that would be foolish.

For one, it was late at night, and two, only the superstitious ones would believe her.

Lastly, she was here for a reason, she was on an errand. But… She couldn't help but consider that the receiver may have been in one of at least a dozen coffins in rows before her.

Within moments, all the others within the mansion had come rushing into the room to her.

There were random comments being chucked around the room, Miku was too terrified to move, or take notice of who was saying what and to whom.

"You found them…"

"Please don't panic…"

"The last one went mad"

"Sorry Master!"

"No matter… Our fantasy couldn't last forever"

"So now, the play begins"

The play? Was this all a big joke to them? The way they talked so firmly about it made Miku second guess herself almost immediately. This was _real_… But this realisation only made Miku more petrified; she remained glued to the spot, her turquoise eyes staring blankly at absolutely nothing.

"You are the lead actress you know"

"Find the key to a happy ending"

"The power of the ending is in your hands"

"Be careful not to mess up the order, or everything will shatter to pieces"

"If you're not careful your end will lie in one of the coffins"

"Yet another bad ending to what may have seemed so promising in the beginning"

Miku needed to get out of there, well, out of that room at least. She needed time to digest this information, figure out what was worth believing, and devise her next move.

It took a few sharp jerks of her head to bring herself to her senses in order to move. She headed back for the door; well more like_ ran_ for it.

"Where are you going?"

"It is impossible to leave until the play is over, dear"

"Come back!"

Miku ran back down the hallway, and finally found what was actually her room, which she wished she had never left in the first place. She stumbled inside and fell face first onto the bed, she lay down flat.

Her first thought was to scream into her pillow, but what good would that do? It may make her feel better, but, that wouldn't really improve much.

So, all this, was one big performance? The wealthy man had set her up; the mystery person probably didn't even exist. No wonder so many people went missing in the forests, he probably sent them to the mansion on this impossible mission.

_Impossible. _The word stung in Miku's thoughts. Was she really going to give in so easily? She couldn't, if she had given up so easily in her life prior to this, she would be dead, no doubt about it. Her whole life had been fighting, so, she needed to get through this, there was no other option.

The lead actress they had called her, the power was in her hands, in other words, it was up to her to fix this and make a happy ending to the performance. But, what was she trying to fix? The coffins? Well, they were long gone; there was nothing she could do for them except perhaps take their bodies back to their families if they had any. But no, that was not answer.

The real answer lay behind the bodies, the reason they were there in the first place.

Miku found herself on the floor, her head in between her knees desperately racking her brains together. She couldn't leave until "the play" was over, so she needed to think of something fast, _real fast._

In one big wave of conflicting emotions, it clicked.

_The clock._

The clock wasn't working properly, so the time never changed. If Miku could fix the clock, then everything could return to normal, a happy ending for all, except of course those in the coffins. It was worth a shot, she had nothing better in mind, and this was her only lead.

Miku dragged herself off the floor, back out to the hallway, where she had expected to see the others, but, they had strangely vanished from the hallways. She crept back up the hallway, stopping halfway before the clock.

"Now what to do with you…" She thought out loud, staring at the clock.

At first, Miku tried to hack into the back of the clock, but, there was no built in metal flap thing where the batteries and timing device would be stored on a normal clock. She knew nothing about fixing electronic devices, so that was all she could come up with. The hard metal case was impossible to break into with her bare hands, so Miku sought for some kind of weapon, but ultimately came up with nothing. Even with all the commotion she as causing in the hallway, nobody came to see her, which she was thankful for. She wouldn't be too happy if she saw somebody trying to destroy _her _clock, not that she would ever be able to afford or make one.

After working up quite a sweat while trying to break apart the clock of steel, Miku plonked herself down on the floor in front of the clock. She panted heavily and watched the clock tick, jumping forward then back as it had the first time she saw it.

"What is wrong with it?" She questioned herself.

She had nothing to go on now.

Miku fantasized on ways to happily end the performance.

Everybody loved a romantic ending, could she run off with the doll boy and "live happily ever after?" No, this wouldn't do.

She eventually sought to more violent methods, though she was only fantasizing at that point. Would destroying the mansion be an option? Vacating everybody and then burning their imprisonment? She knew that nobody in their right mind would standby to let a sixteen year old girl burn their mansion, this idea was quickly tossed.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason; the large ticking hand in the clock face caught her eye. The way its razor sharp edge glimmered in the light. It would be a perfect weapon; too bad there hadn't been something like it on the outside of the clock so Miku could break in to the clock. Its sharp edge would be a lethal weapon… Like a blade… A lethal knife blade.

The most sickening thought occurred to Miku, she was initially disgusted that she had dared to consider it, but she was just so desperate.

What if she were to just… Kill the cast? "Well that wouldn't be a happy ending" she immediately questioned herself.

Wrong. _She_ was the lead actress, only _her_ happy ending mattered. Selfish, but, true.

One of the mansion inhabitants had said; _"Find the key to a happy ending"._

_A _happy ending, it didn't have to be happy for _everyone_. Miku could see no way to end the play peacefully, or any other way to end the play at all at that. Was the panic of potential eternal imprisonment driving her mad already? Probably, but, it wouldn't matter in the end. It was the instinct to survive which was driving her to such extremes, and, it was uncannily rational. It made perfect sense.

Miku rose from the ground, she thrust her fist upwards, then struck the glass with such force that it not only shattered, but the sharp pieces opened gashes all over her hands. It meant very little to her however, she ignored the blood slowly trickling down her arms and ripped the lethal ticking hand from the clock face.

"Time to finish what I started" She hissed to herself, clutching her new weapon tightly in her fist, blood already staining its blade.


	3. Shatter Destiny's Path Part Three

Part 3

Shatter Destiny's Path

Forget the play, Miku was going to break this apart, any rules she may have been breaking didn't matter, who cared about "messing up the order?" Not her.

Miku slunk down the hallways, checking each room for inhabitants as she went. She found many bedrooms, but no people, everybody had ditched their rooms. Had they heard or seen her break the clock face and take the weapon? They must think she is a psychopath, no matter; they will not be around for much longer to contemplate the situation.

Miku crept into the dining room, keeping her back firmly glued against the wall as she worked her way around, her hands madly stung while trying to hold the cold metal on deep gashes, they likely had small shards of glass embedded in them. She ignored this and clutched the weapon tighter, as if punishing her hands for complaining.

She froze upon detecting commotion in the kitchen, her first thought was that the maid was in their cleaning, but, there was a butler in the house as well. If they were both in there, Miku wasn't quite gutsy enough to take on two at once, especially seeing that the butler was an older man and likely five times stronger with his bare hands then Miku was with a weapon.

The door was slightly ajar, she allowed herself to peak through the tiny gap onto the kitchen.

She saw purple hair, the butler. He appeared to be preparing some sort of meal, on silver plates.

Miku stood back from the door, against the wall. She had two options, jump in right then and get it over with, or lay back and wait for him to walk out with his back turned. Both options had their faults of course. For the first, she risked being discovered while trying to open the door, seeing as most of the doors creaked upon opening, or if he turned around to see Miku swinging the weapon up poised for attack. For the second; she risked being seen when he left the kitchen.

Miku remained glued against the wall; she would wait for him to leave. Her heart was beating in shallow flutters, the adrenaline pumping. Whatever consequences she may have suffered after, Miku was not paying attention to them.

The butler lifted the plate from the bench and casually walked out of the room, right past Miku on the other side of the wall, with his back turned, it was now or never.

Miku sprung forward like a hungry beast and plunged the weapon deep into his skull. He was instantly killed and made not a sound as his limp body fell to the ground, though it was followed by a thud and clatter as the plate came crashing after.

Miku braced herself for the gushing blood afterwards, but… Only the blade had bloodstained onto it.

Blood only very slowly trickled from his skull, barely staining his hair. The blood was the part which Miku had feared the most, but, there was none, well not much anyway.

Either these were no ordinary people or Miku hadn't made a deep enough wound. She couldn't bring herself to check the gash; so instead, she placed one hand beneath his limp body and hauled him over onto his back. She held her fingers over his chest, checking for a pulse… nothing. He was no longer breathing, definitely dead, but, why had he shed so little blood?

Upon moving him, blood seemed to gush faster, she swiftly leapt away.

Now, she had to finish the others before they found the butler's body and clued on to what was happening.

Suddenly, Miku detected a muffled squeal, her eyes flickered up.

Sure enough, in the small crevice between the door and the wall, Miku could see the a flash of green hair from the maid in the kitchen.

"Darn it" She hissed to herself, she should have seen her before.

But, surely, there was only one door to the kitchen; the maid could not escape to tell the others. Upon this realisation, Miku slammed the door shut and shoved the weapon into the key whole on the handle, she twisted and twisted until it was forced locked, or she had damaged the lock so greatly that it could no longer open. Either way, it was shut and not coming open from the inside.

Miku could tend to her later, she was not quite in a right state to murder a girl barely older than herself, it seemed more barbaric then murdering an older person in her eyes for whatever reason.

She slunk down across the dining room, and back down the hallway. She ought to check the room of coffins, surely there was somebody in there.

Upon reaching the room, Miku did find somebody to be in there, the red haired Mistress.

Her death came swiftly, not a sound emitted from the room. Just like the butler, she had not shed a lot of blood until she was moved, in which case Miku repeated her method of checking for life the same way she had with the butler… dead as a doorknob.

She found the dolls next, prowling the hallways, Miku jumped out from behind a door way, easily killing the both of them in one moment. After finishing them, she knew why they had been called dolls.

They had shed no blood at all, not a drop. Miku checked their pulses and there were none, but she had wondered if they ever had one to start with.

Miku was worried when she found herself enjoying the thrill, now she knew she was definitely going mad, maybe the wealthy man could purchase her some medicine as a reconciliation gift for sending her to that melancholy mansion. Or maybe that was simply the instinct of survival which was driving her hysterical.

Miku assumed that somebody had found the body of one of the others when a deafening scream echoed through the mansion; she leapt into a random room, and hid behind the door.

Her cover was blown, but there were only three left, and one was locked in the kitchen.

She heard a few consecutive bangs; her first thought was the maid in the kitchen. But, that scream could not have come from her, no; the pink haired lady had found the body and was trying to break the maid out of the kitchen.

Miku slapped her hand against her forehead, now she had made a mess of things, she should have just finished off the maid before.

The Master was nowhere to be seen, he had probably fled for his life.

The banging of the door continued, and Miku forced herself to venture back into the dining room. She saw the pink haired lady banging against the kitchen door; the butler's body lay a few feet away.

Miku felt bad to kill the lady, she had been so kind after all, but, Miku was the lead actress, she had to be selfish to get her happy ending.

She snuck up from behind, and briefly paused and whispered an apology before allowing the weapon to plunge into the lady's skull, this was the first time she had hesitated.

Upon the thud of her now limp body on the ground, the maid within the kitchen squealed in fear. Miku readied herself for some kind of attack; she couldn't be sure what she would find in there, there are plenty of things to make a counter-weapon out of in any kitchen.

Miku shoved the weapon back into the lock and plied it open; the maid's death came quickly after.

"Now one left…" She hissed.

A door creak signalled a visitor, but by then, it was too late. The Master peered into the kitchen, seeing Miku and her new deadly weapon. She spun around to meet his gaze for a moment, before he sprinted away to god knows where.

Miku gave herself another face palm, she had been too conspicuous. Now, she would have to chase the man until she had him cornered. But surely, the man had plans of his own, for all she knew; he could have been hunting her all along, maybe why she hadn't seen him.

Going on a wild goose chase would be foolish; she would set some kind of trap.

Miku allowed herself a moment to think up a plan before she crept back into the hallways. She figured the man would be too smart to fall for a trap or be lead into one, so instead, she would hide and wait.

Miku managed to climb up into the roof frame, large bars went from one wall to the other just under the roof, and she rested silently above, poised for attack. "_I_ am the hunter" She whispered in a hiss.

Miku waited patiently for the Master, she heard activity around the mansion occasionally, a door close or metal clang, he must have been preparing a weapon of his own.

It seemed like Miku had been sitting completely still and silent on the bars when she heard footsteps. They were nearly completely silent and moving cautiously.

_Pit, pat, pit pat._

Miku shuffled slightly, preparing herself to drop below.

The blue haired Master became visible below, as Miku had expected, he wielded a weapon also, some kind of small triton. He had it rested on his shoulder as he crept down the hallway, in much the same manor that Miku had; only he didn't stick to the walls, which was perfect for Miku.

_You should have ran while you could; _Miku thought to herself maliciously.

With the lines lost and the majority of the cast vanished, the play was coming to a close, it was time for the final scene. Miku knew that she was completely mad, a murderous psychopath, but, she was enjoying every moment of it.

The young villager dropped down from the ceiling, her legs fell onto the Masters shoulders, she sat up balanced perfectly on his shoulders, and swung up her weapon. The Master reached for his triton, but, he was too slow.

"My happy ending" Miku sniggered as the weapon fell down into his skull.

He fell to the ground, and Miku gently rolled off his shoulders as he hit the ground with a thud.

She panted a little, her hands were red raw and the gashes were looking as prominent as ever, but what did it matter?

The play was over! Diminished! Curtains closed! The lead actress found her happy ending, and her new found inner madness.

She steadily got to her feet, still clutching the key to her happy ending.

"The performance is over! I broke it apart! Happy now?" She yelled out, her voice echoed through the silent mansion. "I hope so, because I have gone mad!" She added quickly, followed by a ridiculous laugh, how about some high tech medicine to cure her mental illness? Surely the wealthy fellow could get her some; she couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she returned.

But… What of the letter? No, that was all a set up. The receiver was either dead or non-existent. But, why would such a wealthy man go into such trouble for a single villager? Rather sinister.

She removed the letter from her cloak, her blood covered hands staining the faded parchment. Miku could suddenly hear noise, close noise. It sounded like clapping, a round of applause, but only from a single person.

She turned around, and by the clock; was a shadow, giving a round of applause.

"What a brilliant show you put on tonight!" It praised, the voice was too distorted to tell from male or female Miku realised that it was not a shadow, but a person in a black cloak, their face was not visible.

So, there was another person, but the play was over, maybe not quite?

Miku raised the weapon again, the mystery person did not move, or look up.

"I assure you, dear, the performance is done and dusted, I should know" It responded serenely. Miku let her arms fall back to her sides in confusion.

This was the mystery receiver, surely. They _did _exist, not everything had been a set up. They had not been included in the play, but, they were still in the mansion. And they had watched the whole thing.

Only one person could do that without being involved, they pulled the strings and looked on.

_The director._

The curse of the non-changing clock, this person had caused the mansion to be this way. They had set the scene, pulled in the cast and crew, then sat back to see how the events would fold out.

What if all those coffins belonged to people who had come in an attempt to finish the play, but failed to find their happy ending? They were forever trapped, and the director had stood by and watched each performance one by one, every coffin symbolised a failed performance and a bad ending, a bad end night.

But Miku had found the loophole, she had escaped the coffin, by being selfish and finding her own happy ending she had finished the performance herself.

The director had found their ideal lead actress.

She had finished the play, but did that really mean she could leave? Or would she forever be a puppet of the director? But that was the deal, finish the performance and you got a ticket out of there, right?

She had come on an errand, if she delivered the letter, then her errand was done. Capeesh.

Miku stepped forward, and handed the faded blood stained letter to the mystery person.

"I believe this is for you" She said quickly, before recoiling a few feet back, she watched the person curiously.

They opened up the letter, and must have been reading it, but Miku could not see their face.

Suddenly, she heard a sniff, it was weeping, but why? She should have read the letter before she handed it over, but it was too late.

The sinister shadow person suddenly vanished, in thin air, just like that.

Miku looked around frantically for a moment, but soon gave up, it was time for her to go home and get herself fixed up… Both physically and mentally.

Another bad end night? No, Miku found the loophole, and she would not become one of the director's puppets. They could no longer pull the strings, as she had tossed their script and finished it her way. The director's days of creating performances were over, the cast was gone, and the lead actress was dismissing herself.

Miku had enjoyed her performance, she had unleashed her inner madness, but that wasn't so bad.


End file.
